Mary Ludemann

Head of School Dominic A.A. Randolph and David Levin ’88, superintendent of KIPP New York, recently discussed character education on Bloomberg Radio’s Bloomberg EDU with Jane Williams. Click here to listen.

Approximately 50 students were involved in Riverdale’s mini courses program in its first year (2010-11). The courses offered covered a wide range of topics across disciplines, including Cancer, Latino Identity, Pinhole Photography, Scientific Research Presentations, Survey of Western Music, and interdisciplinary courses such as Animation (Art and Technology), Climate Change (English, Science, Technology, and Physical Plant), and Social Entrepreneurism. Mini courses proved to be a valuable addition to and enrichment of the Riverdale Upper School curriculum, as they allowed students to pursue interests about which they are passionate in the company of interested faculty without the pressures of tests and grading characteristic of their other courses.

Recently, we were mentioned by The New York Times for our push back regarding tutoring and the excessive tactics used by tutoring firms to attract clients. We hope to continue pushing back on this trend, ensuring that our students are best served by working more closely with our teachers.

Head of School Dominic A.A. Randolph was recently featured in The New York Times Magazine article, “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?” The article detailed Riverdale’s work with KIPP’s founder, David Levin ‘88, and Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania, on defining those character traits that embody success. We plan on continuing this work because it is essential that as we develop the minds of our children, we also work on building their character strengths.

Second-grade teacher Michael Schurr and Lower School Curriculum Coordinator Karen Fierst, two of the lead faculty members on the IDEO design thinking project, recently blogged for Winchester Thurston School, an independent PK-12 school in Pittsburgh, PA: http://cityasourcampus.wordpress.com/category/guest-posts/. Karen explained the concept of design thinking, while Michael shared how design thinking looks in action.